The university world continues to do. It does so with the Santander X 100 initiative where a collaborative network is created where universities and entrepreneurs can share ideas, knowledge and innovate.

This initiative has been launched in collaboration with 40 universities. Its goal is to become the largest university entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world.

Santander X 100 came into existence with the aim of creating a collaborative network between universities and employers. In fact, it allows universities to share best practices, monitor their entrepreneurship programs, and measure their impact.

This program is expected to grow in the years to come. There are already 11 countries participating in the initiative, although Santander X started its journey with start-ups and scale-ups from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, US, Spain, Mexico and the UK.

Innovative proposal

Companies wishing to be part of this environment must have a sound financial situation, a validated business model, an innovative value proposition, a structured team, and a product roadmap with positive and sustainable evolution. Coupled with all this is having a detailed analysis of the competition.

Among the participating startups are MotionMiners (Germany); Ebers and Woza Labs (Argentina); Sumá, Taqé and Wconnect (Brazil); Lexgo (Chile); Currency Alliance, FILMPEDIA, Fundeen, HumanITcare and Triditive (Spain); HF Capital and Stoke (USA) and Cuéntame, Finloop, Social Piper, Tandem and Xilinat (Mexico). And scaleup Alyne and Breeze Technologies (Germany); VU Security (Argentina); BEDU, Canard Drones, Connecting Visions, Rated Power, Scoobic Urban Mobility and Zapiens Technologies (Spain); Whyline (USA) and CoGo, MyDocSafe and Plastecowood (UK).

The global director of the University of Santander, Javier Roglá, ensures that the community of entrepreneurs that has been created through this program “is a great opportunity for its members to exchange experiences, increase their network, scale their business and contribute to their progress and that of other companies”. As he puts it, “important value is added to its transformative purpose and to create a more positive and, above all, more global impact”.

To date, the company has allocated a total of more than 2,000 million euros for this type of program and has awarded more than 630,000 scholarships, grants and awards to students, professionals, entrepreneurs and SMEs.